Kenya Election Crisis: Friday is Judgment Day
By Tysan, August 31, 2017: Friday, September 1, is the day that Kenyans are eagerly awaiting, the day the Supreme Court will rule on the petition brought by the National Super Alliance (NASA) to set aside the August 8 vote re-electing President Uhuru Kenyatta. His opponent Raila Odinga claims that the election was rigged.
There are two most likely scenarios after the highly anticipated Supreme Court ruling. The first is the likelihood of a second presidential vote should the court rule in favor of the petition. The second vote would be on Wednesday, November 1, 60 days after the ruling.
The second scenario would be the swearing in of a re-elected President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday, September 12, should the court dismiss the petition.
Lawyers from both sides have argued out their case this week, each attempting to tear apart the other’s evidence as the seven Supreme Court judges listen. The hearings ended on Tuesday (August 29) with Chief Justice David Maraga announcing that the decision would be completed by Friday.
Adventist Today has learned that the ruling will be made before the Sabbath begins at sundown local time in Nairobi because the Chief Justice will preside as always and is a faithful Sabbath-keeper, a member of the Adventist denomination.
There is the likelihood that the judges will rule in favor of the petitioner, annul President Kenyatta’s re-election and order a fresh election. This election will include only Kenyatta and the candidates who joined the petition; Raila Odinga, Ekuru Aukot and Michael Wainaina.
Aukot and Wainaina both succeeded in asking the court to allow them to joined in the case although they had conceded to President Kenyatta. According to the law, the other presidential candidates are considered to have conceded defeat by virtue of having failed to file a petition and are not permitted to be included in a re-scheduled vote.
Adventist Today has had a reporter present to witnessed Members of Parliaments sworn in yesterday, the Senate today and Governors earlier. A number of Adventists were elected to various offices and we will inform you of these when full information becomes available.
When Babu Owino took the oath as MP from Embakasi East today, he generated drama in parliament because he mentioned the name of opposition presidential candidate Raila Odinga which was not part of the prescribed oath for the legislators. He was forced to retake the oath, but even then finished with his trademark ‘Tibim’ anthem Embakasi.
During the Supreme Court hearings, Adventist Today learned that when the NASA lawyers were granted access to the official computers used in the election, they claim to have come across a discrepancies that affected 5 million votes in the August 8 balloting. One of the major discrepancies was that the account of Wafula Chebukati, chairman of the Independent Boundary and Elections Commission (IBEC), was used to delete a number of documents without permission.
According to Senator James Orengo from Siaya, who is lead counsel for NASA, their audit of the IBEC servers resulted in these discoveries:
(1) There were 3,395 failed log-in attempts while the access control list only provides for 341 users. In the same instance, 3,851 successful log-in attempts were made.
(2) The election management information system gives read-only authorizations and no deletion of files is granted, but the account of IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati was used multiple times to transfer, delete and modify files.
(3) Chebukati’s account had 9,934 transaction logs and was accessed using an unauthorized IP address. Some of these transactions include the deletion of Form 34 Bs for Jomvu and Bureti constituencies, and the transfer of the folder for Kisumu Central constituency. Forms 34 A and B were uploaded to the servers from the constituency level instead of from the polling stations during and after the election. Apparently, there is no traceable data from polling stations, raising doubt if the data keyed in to the servers is actually from the stations.
(4) The NASA audit found that there are no Form 34 Bs for a number of constituencies while in some other constituencies, the forms were uploaded more than once.
(5) Between August 6 and 17, a total of 277 users accessed the server yet data was supposed to be uploaded from each polling station. In other instances, one user accessed the server multiple times using several IP addresses.
(6) While the server grants read-only access, some constituency election coordinators managed to modify Forms 34B while on the server. The constituencies affected include Changamwe, Jomvu, Sotik and Kibwezi East.
(7) NASA’s audit found that there were a number of illegal activities carried out by some accounts. They include 8,300 delete commands and 7,954 successful delete commands between August 8 and 17 late at night.
(8) The audit also revealed that there were no security features on the Form 34 B. No watermark or serialization. They found 31 forms with no serial numbers and 32 without any signatures from local agents.
(9) Access was granted to strangers who were not identified by role and who were not defined in any access codes.
This report was made by the NASA audit team and when James Orengo was presenting it to the court, Adventist Today observed the Chief Justice ask Orengo to stop his presentation at a certain point and allow the report from the court expert to be considered.
Each side claims to know that the ruling will go their way. Adventist Today spoke to one of the lawyers who is a NASA supporter. “We all knows the sacrifice that Raila Odinga has made to this country,” he said. “It will be unfair if we don’t recognize that by giving him even a single term to lead as the leader of this country.”
An Adventist pastor who is a student in Nairobi also shared his view with Adventist Today. “I know Kenya politics, and there is no way Raila Odinga will be president. Wait for tomorrow and mark my word and remember what I told you.” Another supporter of President Kenyatta told Adventist Today, “Raila Odinga is trying to prove what he can’t prove. Let’s wait until Friday and see how it goes.”
Adventist Today sent a reporter to Nairobi and has tried to update our readers as events unfold in this crisis in Kenya. Our reports have noted the multiple Adventists who have key roles in this drama and will be closely involved in the decisions about the future of this developing nation. We are grateful for our readers and their comments, and especially with those who have shared these reports with friends. Your prayers for Kenya are important tomorrow as the decision is announced.